When Ronald and Vivian Wong asked Richy Ng of Box Design to renovate their 2,000 sq ft Sai Kung home for a second time – nine years after they moved in – there could have been no greater endorsement of the original job he’d done.

“I am a big fan of [British architects] John Pawson and David Chipperfield, so I wanted some of their minimalist aesthetic incorporated into the space, as well as maintaining elements of our previous design,” says Ronald. “The footprint of the house isn’t large so the challenge was to create linked spaces that would make the place seem bigger than it is without becoming a series of shoe boxes.”

The Wongs’ first renovation had also been minimalist in style, with open-plan rooms, a cement-based self-levelling floor and only essential pieces of designer furniture. But the couple have daughters now – Molly, five, and Mia, three – and they felt their home needed to be more child friendly.

To that end, Ng extended the kitchen and encased it in glass to make it part of the dining area while allowing it to be shut off for the children’s safety. He also enlarged the living room, to create space for the girls’ toys and grown-up entertainment in the form of a home theatre.

A ceiling that had been removed to increase the height of the living room was reinstated to create an upstairs floor for the children’s bedrooms, maid’s room and bathroom. Ng kept the split-level concept between the kitchen and dining room and the lower living room but moved the connecting stairs to one side – in part for safety but also to act as a visual continuation of the main staircase. In the space where the stairs used to be, he built a bench seat on the upper level that doubles as a cupboard for hi-fi equipment and DVDs in use on the lower one.

“I wanted to create visual and spatial continuity between the various living areas,” says Ng. “I did this by designing a floating bench that runs from the garden across the living and dining rooms to the front door. I also positioned the stairs on the same side of the house to link the living room to the dining area visually and up again to the first floor.”

The interior floor tiles were extended into the garden and up the garden wall to connect the inside of the house with the outdoors.

Simple but clever linear designs are to be found throughout the house. Long, wide floorboards on the two top storeys offer a directional feel – they seem to draw you along the corridor and into the bedrooms. The effect is mirrored by a rectangular light trough on the master bedroom ceiling, which has the exact dimensions of a single floorboard and furthers the illusion of height.

“I also incorporated tiered light troughs in the study [which is situated in a corner of the master bedroom],” says Ng.

“They increase the feel of height in what might otherwise have felt like a small, cramped space and look more interesting than conventional strip lighting.”

Ng used glass throughout the house to increase the light and sense of space.

In the stairwell by the master bedroom, for example, he replaced concrete walls with glass ones.

“A stairwell can be a very dark area,” he says. “The glass walls open it up and provide interaction between the stairs and the master suite. The floating glass panels in the banisters also give a very light, open feel – and prevent the children from falling.”

Particularly striking on the upper levels is the flooring. The Austrian rugged oak is, Ng says, “punchy and powerful”.

Master bedroom The wallpaper on the feature wall cost HK$8,000 from Altfield Interiors (11/F, 9 Queen’s Road Central, tel: 2524 4867). The bed (HK$10,000) was custom made by Box Design. The bedside lights were bought at Flos years ago. The leather Eames chair (HK$27,000) from Herman Miller (www.hermanmiller.com) is available at Posh (161 Des Voeux Road Central, tel: 2851 0899). The reading lamp was HK$7,000 from Flos. The tailor’s dummy is from Ronald Wong’s own collection from Moustache (31 Aberdeen Street, Sheung Wan, tel: 2541 1955) of which he is part owner. The wooden tree (HK$2,800 from Homeless) is used to hang belts and clothes.

Taking charge To ensure the Wongs' phones and BlackBerrys are always charged, Richy Ng of Box Design (tel: 2573 3323; www. boxdesign.com.hk installed a charging station at the entrance to their home. Plugs, sockets and wires are hidden beneath a shelf, which is set into the wall dividing the passage from the kitchen. The couple can now come home, plug in and chill out. The quirky charger in the shape of a firefighter was a gift.